President of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, Solomon Kotei has said recent hikes in electricity and water tariffs did not consider the interest of labour unions and Ghanaians as a whole.

According to him, the 59.2% increase in electricity and 67.2% for water is too high.

"The announcement didn't come beyond what labour is saying; don't go beyond 50 percent. They have gone beyond that. Even if the figures were 9 percent, we still feel they can cause havoc," he told Accra-based Starr FM.

The PURC on Monday announced hikes in both water and electricity tariffs at a combined rate of 126.4%.

The changes are expected to take effective from December 14, 2015.

A statement signed by Nana Yaa Jantuah Director of Public Relations at the PURC noted, “the significant change and increasing dependency on thermal generation has greatly impacted on the cost of electricity generation and supplied by the Utility Service Providers.

However, Mr. Kotei believes the situation would increase overhead cost of employers, which would result in lay-offs.

He argued that the recent increment should have been from January, 2016, as agreed upon from the start of negotiations.

Mr. Kotei added that there would be a meeting to discuss the way forward towards the issue.

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Europa Taylor Reporter - Pulse. Category Editor for General News and Health. I am a Communications Graduate from the Ghana Institute of Journalism. I love reading and watching documentaries. My aim is to write to make an impact on society.